“Art for a Grandson” is a series of monthly meetings organized in the galleries of the National Museum in Warsaw, addressed to grandmothers, grandparents and their grandchildren. During the classes, grandparents show their children the world, remember the times of their youth and answer many difficult questions to their grandchildren. It is an opportunity to spend valuable time together, as well as explore the museum’s nooks and crannies and learn about the most interesting works of art. Marta Kochlewska from the Education Department of the National Museum in Warsaw, the cycle coordinator, told us about the classes.
A parent in the city: “Art for a grandson” is a proposal of joint workshops for grandparents and their grandchildren. What is the impact of the fact that it takes place in a museum space, surrounded by art, on the course of such an intergenerational meeting?
Marta Kochlewska: I had the pleasure to lead these meetings for the last three years. The author of the series is Aleksandra Kresowska-Pawlak, recently I took over the coordination of the program, and I passed the classes on. However, I can safely say that magic happens during these meetings – the magic of sharing knowledge and experiences. During the classes, I tried to provide information about a given work, artist or era, but at the same time my grandparents always added something from each other. These were their memories, anecdotes, references to the presented works of art. When we looked at pictures related to Warsaw, someone added that he used to live in this place or that some place looked different. When we talked about the old traditions of Christmas, grandparents mentioned customs that their grandchildren had no chance to learn. It was similar in Galeria Wzornictwa Polskiego, where they felt at home. This is really great – sharing knowledge and memories. For me, these classes have always been an amazing experience.
RwM: How did you come up with the idea for the series “Art for a Grandson”?
Marta Kochlewska: We noticed that there was a need to create a series of activities for grandmothers and grandparents, and to organize their time at our Museum. Tuesdays are senior’s day at the National Museum in Warsaw. At. Thematic lectures in the field of art history take place at 13. “Play for the Grandson” takes place once a month at 16:00 and seniors can bring their grandchildren to these meetings. This is a special time when they have this hour to themselves. Children do not run home after school to do their homework quickly, but they can come to the National Museum in Warsaw and spend time with their grandfather or grandmother. This year, a little more parents started to come to our classes, together with their grandparents and children. And although everyone is welcome, this series is dedicated to grandparents and their grandchildren. It’s time for them to be together and bonding.
I also observe during classes that grandparents have a different approach to children than parents. Parents focus on the child’s independence: they want them to answer questions themselves, take part in activities themselves, and do the work themselves. On the other hand, the grandmother or grandfather always rushes to the aid of the grandson, even when it is not necessary: they will bend down for something, tell them, help with drawing. You can see that it is important for them that their grandson or granddaughter feel good in class, they are definitely more caring. It also has value. We have known for a long time that grandparents spoil their children much more than parents.
RwM: We, parents, are often busy, busy and task-oriented to our children’s activities. Grandparents have more time, a calmer approach and I have the impression that they also have more patience with their grandchildren.
Marta Kochlewska: It’s true. Grandparents do not think about completing the next extracurricular activities. You can see that they enjoy these meetings and have a good time with us. This is evidenced by the fact that we have regular visitors to the cycle. Some people come to us for the third year.
RwM: I know that the classes are very popular. How big are the groups?
Marta Kochlewska: We have specific requirements at the National Museum in Warsaw and a standard workshop group should not exceed 30 people, regardless of the type of classes. Indeed, in the “Art for the Grandson” this group usually consists of about 30 participants. Sometimes a little less, but usually quite a lot. We didn’t have classes where no one was attending.
We try to prepare the classes in such a way that the grandparents were also involved and had their task. Some questions are also addressed to them. There is also always some common task for grandparents and grandchildren. In the last class, devoted to the secrets of the portrait, children drew their grandparents, and grandparents made portraits of their grandchildren. Great works came out, which the children then pasted into an album they created during the whole class.
RwM: Do more grandmothers or grandparents come to classes?
Marta Kochlewska: Probably our grandmothers visit us a bit more often, but there are also many grandparents. It happens that whole families come to us: grandmother, grandfather and grandchildren. Last year, my granddaughter participated in the classes, accompanied by her two grandmothers: you could see that it was their time together and a nice experience of doing something together.
RwM: Classes are thematic, each meeting is accompanied by a keynote, a topic illustrated with specific works of art. Is it a big challenge to create educational activities, which must be attractive to both grandparents and children?
Marta Kochlewska: Yes, it is quite a challenge. As the cycle coordinator, I prepare the program of activities and develop the topics around which they take place. But it is the educators, in this case the educator Roma Radwańska, who are responsible for preparing the rest, creating a scenario for the classes and taking care of their course. Of course, we consult it together, we consider topics, artistic tasks, and share ideas. It is a difficult task, but also a fun one.
All family activities at the National Museum in Warsaw follow a similar pattern. The starting point are works of art and a meeting in a gallery, but we also propose art activities. Depending on the age of the workshop group, there will be more or less of these tasks. We also adapt them to the cognitive abilities of children. In the case of the “Art for a Grandson” series, the age group of grandchildren is quite wide – they are children aged five to twelve. A five-year-old and a twelve-year-old will perceive these classes differently. We try to provide a large dose of knowledge, but we also make sure that you can sometimes breathe while performing certain tasks. Knowledge in the field of painting, sculpture and art history is easier to consolidate when children acquire it through art classes, exercises and play. In addition, we want seniors to learn something from these classes, learn something interesting about the works of art in question. And they say it is, which makes us very happy.
RwM: Do you discourage younger children from participating in the classes?
Marta Kochlewska: Sometimes the little ones also come, we don’t ask anyone to leave the class. However, our observations show that for younger children, for example four-year-olds, these topics are often simply too difficult. Such children have a problem to focus. And although the little ones also attend the “Art for the Grandson”, I would rather recommend our year-round series “I’m two, two and a half” and “Three, four, START!”, Which are adapted to their age.
RwM: The aim of the “Art for a Grandson” series is to enable grandparents and grandchildren to spend valuable time together, but also to activate seniors to cultural life. This is not the only offer of the National Museum in Warsaw for the elderly?
Marta Kochlewska: As I mentioned earlier, Tuesdays at the National Museum in Warsaw are dedicated to seniors. It is also the day of free admission to permanent exhibitions. “Museum Tuesdays” is a series of weekly lectures in the field of art history, once a month we invite you to “Art for a Grandson”. But we have a lot of such activities for adults at the National Museum in Warsaw: we organize lectures, drawing lessons, and art history courses. On Fridays, the series “Evening at the Museum” takes place, on Sundays, we offer lectures related to the temporary exhibition that is currently taking place at the Museum. Grandparents are also always welcome to our family activities. In addition to “Art for the Grandson”, these are “Family Sundays” and year-round workshops for which, however, registration takes place at the beginning of the school year. There is a lot to choose from, we invite you!
An interview with Joanna Barczuk
photo. Małgorzata Martyniak, Jerzy Tarkowski, The National Museum in Warsaw
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ART FOR THE GRANDCHAR:
- are intended for grandparents with grandchildren aged five to twelve
- takes approximately 75 minutes
- are held from October 2019 to May 2020, once a month, on Tuesdays at 4 p.m., in museum galleries
- admission free (tickets are available at the National Museum in Warsaw only on the day of classes), the number of places is limited
Meeting schedule:
- January 21 – Grandma and Grandpa
- February 25 – Masters of the Second Plan
- March 17th – Attention! Glass!
- April 21 – Court culture
- May 19 – History of the Museum
The National Museum in Warsaw, Al. Jerozolimskie 3, 00-495 Warsaw, www.mnw.art.pl